The Europa League and Conference League first-phase draws have been made featuring Manchester United, Tottenham, Rangers, Chelsea, Hearts, Welsh club The New Saints, Northern Irish team Larne and Ireland's Shamrock Rovers; the fixture schedule will be released on Saturday August 31
Friday 30 August 2024 20:03, UK
Manchester United are set for a reunion with their former manager and current Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho in the Europa League first phase while Rangers will face United and Tottenham.
Mourinho led United to a League Cup and Europa League double in 2017 and a second-placed Premier League finish the following season.
He was sacked midway through his third campaign at United in December 2018 and has since managed Tottenham and Roma before taking the Fenerbahce job this summer.
Man Utd will play Rangers (h), Porto (a), PAOK (h), Fenerbahce (a), Bodo/Glimt (h), Viktoria Plzen (a), Twente (h) and Steaua Bucharest (a).
Rangers have been drawn at home to Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham and will also visit Old Trafford to take on United. Their eight fixtures are Tottenham (h), Man Utd (a), Lyon (h), Olympiakos (a), Union SG (h), Malmo (a), Steaua Bucharest (h) and Nice (a).
Tottenham face Roma (h), Rangers (a), AZ Alkmaar (h), Ferencvaros (a), Qarabag (h), Galatasaray (a), Elfsborg (h) and Hoffenheim (a).
The fixture schedule for the Europa League and Conference League will be released on Saturday August 31.
The Europa Conference League draw has pitted Chelsea at home to Irish side Shamrock Rovers. Enzo Maresca's team will play Gent (h), Heidenheim (a), Astana (a), Shamrock Rovers (h), Panathinaikos (a) and Noah (h).
Shamrock Rovers will also host Welsh side The New Saints and travel to Northern Irish club Larne. Their six fixtures are Chelsea (a), APOEL (h), SK Rapid (a), The New Saints (h), Borace (h) and Larne (a).
Hearts take on Copenhagen (a), Heidenheim (h), Omonoia (h), Cercle Brugge (a), Petrocub (h) and Dinamo-Minsk (a).
The New Saints have been given an away tie at Serie A side Fiorentina and Greek giants Panathinaikos. Their fixtures are Fiorentina (a), Djurgarden (h), Astana (h), Shamrock Rovers (a), Panathinaikos (h) and Celje (a).
Larne face Gent (h), Molde (a), Olimpija (a), Shamrock Rovers (h), St Gallen (h) and Dinamo-Minsk (a).
Like the Champions League, the Europa League and Conference League has seen the number of teams expanded from 32 to 36. The biggest change is a switch from the traditional group stage to a single league phase including all participating teams.
In the Europa League, every club is now be guaranteed a minimum of eight league-stage games against eight different opponents (four home games, four away) rather than the previous six matches against three teams, played on a home-and-away basis.
In the Conference League though, each side will face six different teams (three home games, three away).
In both tournaments, the top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the knockout stages, while the teams finishing in ninth to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure a place in the last 16 of the competition.
Teams ranked 25-36 are eliminated from all competitions.
Europa League
Matchday 1: September 25/26
Matchday 2: October 3
Matchday 3: October 24
Matchday 4: November 7
Matchday 5: November 28
Matchday 6: December 12
Matchday 7: January 23, 2025
Matchday 8: January 30, 2025
Conference League
Matchday 1: October 3
Matchday 2: October 24
Matchday 3: November 7
Matchday 4: November 28
Matchday 5: December 12
Matchday 6: December 19
The 2024/25 Europa League final will take place on May 21, 2025 at the Estadio de San Mames in Bilbao, while the Conference League final is scheduled for May 28, 2025 at Stadion Wroclaw in Poland.
Europa League
Knockout round play-offs: February 13 & 20, 2025
Round of 16: March 6 & 13, 2025
Quarter-finals: April 10 & 17, 2025
Semi-finals: May 1 & 8, 2025
Final: May 21, 2025 (Estadio de San Mames, Spain)
Conference League Knockout round play-offs: February 13 & 20, 2025 Round of 16: March 6 & 13, 2025 Quarter-finals: April 10 & 17, 2025 Semi-finals: May 1 & 8, 2025 Final: May 28, 2025 (Stadion Wroclaw, Poland)
